Category Archives: Devotion

A SENSIBLE ATTITUDE

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“I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”            Genesis 14:24 NIV

 

What a sensible attitude Abram displayed toward the others who were involved with him. Take note Abram’s words to the king of Sodom. Abram, do you mean to say that it is right for these young men to have what is wrong for you to take? Is it possible to have a double standard of right – one for you and one for them? What a lesson there is here for us! These young men had not yet come to the stage of Christian living and maturity that Abram had achieved. Abram is content to let God deal with them directly in these borderline areas. He is not going to force others to walk in the light of his conscience. Somehow, Abram has learned the truth of Romans 14, that we are not to judge our brother in these matters, Verse 5b (NIV): ” Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.” It is a great lesson to learn that there are areas of our Christian life where we must walk alone before our Lord and cannot force our views on others. Life lies ahead of us with all its possibilities of peril and danger, both spiritual and physical. How we need to go on in the strength of our Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. Nothing that the world offers can fully meet our hearts’ need. We are in this world. We are expected to live in it. We are expected to use the world, but not to abuse it. We must not love it, nor demand anything from it. Like Abram, we must say, “I have sworn to the Lord my God, I will not touch anything that you have to offer.”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, teach us to walk with the same attitude as Abram.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, life lies ahead of us with all its possibilities of peril and danger, both spiritual and physical. Thank You that we can go in Your strength. For nothing that the world offers can fully meet our hearts’ need. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 9:1-18

 

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ONLY THE LORD CAN SATISFY

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“And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.             Genesis 14:20 NIV

 

Here in this place, the King’s Valley, where centuries later a greater Melchizedek would sweat in bloody agony in a Garden, Abram enjoyed by faith the high priestly ministry of Christ. His heart ravished with the love of Christ, and refreshed and strengthened in spirit, he saw that God alone could satisfy his heart. Here he swore to the Lord his God he would not touch a single thing that Sodom could offer him, he rose up and went out to meet the fair and innocent-appearing trap. He was ready for it! Have you ever found yourself trapped by some subtle appeal that looked innocent enough on the surface and seemed to be the popular thing to do? Too late, you realized its true nature, when the damage had already been done, and all you could say was, “I didn’t realize…”, “I never dreamed…”! This happens to many of us, doesn’t it? Life is full of subtleties like this – little decisions, little problems, incidents that seem so innocent on the surface. We find it easy to rationalize and justify our choices. Why is it we fail? It is because we do not go to our Melchizedek! We give him no opportunity to minister to us and open our eyes. We do not come to the throne of grace, as we are encouraged to, to find grace to help in time of need. Abram would never have passed by this subtle trap unscathed had Melchizedek not met him. When the king of Sodom came, Abram could say, “I want no man to say that he has made Abram rich. If anyone makes Abram rich, it will be God.” What a victory!

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, in everything may we come to Your Throne of Grace.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, may we give You the opportunity to minister to us and open our eyes. By Your Holy Spirit may we come to Your throne of grace, as we are encouraged to, to find grace to help in time of need. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 8:31-39

 

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BREAD AND WINE

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“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.”           Genesis 14:18 NIV

 

Going back to verse 18, we are told Melchizedek served Abram bread and wine. We need no interpreter for this. These are the symbols of love. They speak eloquently of strength and joy flowing out from the passion of self-giving love. All this is recorded in the Old Testament, yet as we read it, we can see in this historical incident a beautiful picture of the need of our own lives. There is nothing that has such power to motivate the Christian heart as to partake, with the people of the Lord, of these symbols of the suffering of our blessed Lord. He gave Himself in the fullness of His life, poured out all that He was, and as we feast by the Spirit upon the symbols of His life, we are strengthened, enabling us to meet all that comes our way. This is the only power sufficient to make us reject the world’s offer and maintain our independence as servants of Christ. The love of Christ constrains us! In the intimacy of this fellowship, under the ministry of Melchizedek, Abram worships his Lord. The record says he gave him a tenth of everything, that is, he gave him tithes of all he had. The tithe is not a debt paid to the Lord, it is rather a reminder that everything belongs to Him. Recognizing that all we are and have is to be given to the Lord in worship. The whole of our life is to be focused on the one aim of serving our Lord.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, everything we have, we offer to You in worship.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord thank you that the tithe is not a debt paid to You, it is rather a reminder that everything belongs to You. We recognize that all we are and have is to be given to You in worship. The whole of our lives is to be focused on the one aim of serving You. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 8:18-30

 

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HE BLESSED ABRAM

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And he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.”               Genesis 14:19 NIV

 

Here, then, Melchizedek, who is evidently a Gentile king. The original knowledge of God as the maker and possessor of the heavens and the earth, passed along by Adam to his descendants, has evidently come down to Melchizedek unchanged. He is a worshiper of the true God, and a priest to that true God. The record shows him in such a way that he becomes a type of our Lord Jesus who is our heavenly Melchizedek, ready to minister to us in our need. His specific ministry is to reveal El Elyon, the Most High God, the One who owns everything in heaven and on earth. He is the one perfectly adequate to meet any human need. This is what Paul declares to the Philippians 4:19 (NIV). Now we see why God led Abram back to his home by way of the King’s Valley. The king of Sodom is coming to meet him, but Abram knows nothing of his approach, nor of the subtle offer with which he plans to put Abram in his debt. Had he known of it, he would have seen nothing wrong with it, for Abram is not different from you and me. The peril is too subtle to detect; it looks too innocent and attractive. So, God sent Melchizedek to meet him! His first ministry to Abram was to remind him of the character of the God he served. Doubtless he warned Abram of the subtle trap awaiting him in the offer of Sodom’s wealth, and perhaps he said, “Abram, your God is the possessor of heaven and earth. He made it all. He owns it. He holds all its wealth in His hands. There is nothing that He cannot give you. This is the God to whom you belong.”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You that there is nothing You cannot give us.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, You are the possessor of heaven and earth. You made it all. You own it all. There is nothing that You cannot give us. Thank You for meeting our every need in Jesus Christ Your Son. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 8:1-17

 

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MELCHIZEDEK

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“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High.”        Genesis 14:18 NIV

 

Before the king of Sodom met Abram with his subtle offer, Abram had already met with another king, the mysterious Melchizedek. He steps suddenly out of the shadows, ministers to Abram, and just as suddenly disappears from the pages of Scripture, and we never hear another word about him until we come to the 110th Psalm, where David declares that the Messiah to come is made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Then another thousand years roll by, and in the book of Hebrews we have another extended reference to this strange individual. Who was Melchizedek? The guesses range from Shem, the son of Noah, who, according to some chronologists, could have still been alive at this time, to an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ in human form. All we are positively told of him is that he is the king of Salem, which afterwards became Jerusalem, and that he is the priest of the Most High God. His own name means “king of righteousness.” He appears suddenly in the Scriptural record without any mention of his father or mother, no birth date, and no subsequent account of his death. These omissions from the record are seized upon by the writer of Hebrews to indicate that since we have no record of his genealogy, this man is a type of the eternal priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ who, in actuality, has no beginning nor ending of days, who forever lives to make intercession for all those who come unto the Lord by him. Thus, the Melchizedek priesthood is a ministry of help to those who face a time of trouble.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, thank You for always praying for us, not just in troubled times.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord Jesus, we praise You who has no beginning nor ending of days, but forever lives to make intercession for us who come unto the Father. Helping us who are facing a time of trouble. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 7:14-25

 

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THE TIMING OF TEMPTATION

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But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you.”                   Genesis 14:22,23 NIV

 

The timing of the temptation came when Abram might well have been off guard, enjoying the popularity of the hour. He had earned a few moments of relaxation after the strain of battle, and at this quiet moment in his life the subtle offer came. Satan has chosen that moment to attack. There is no doubt that the pressure on Abram to accept this gift is very great. I have found that many of us Christians, have been trapped by the fear of offending someone if we say, “No!” We are troubled about what they will think, and so often very little troubled about what God will think. We fail to realize if we cannot say “No” now, how can we ever say “No” after the offer has been accepted and we are indebted to some degree. The easiest time to say “No” is now! This is what the Apostle Paul means when he says, “I have the right to do anything—but I will not be mastered by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12b NIV). That is, the only one I wish to serve is Christ. The only power to which I will yield my life is His. Anything else that threatens to control me or limit me I reject! It may be lawful, it may even be in good standing all around, but if it makes any demand upon me that is not His demand, I do not want it! This is what Abram is so beautifully demonstrating in these verses. It is a bold and positive declaration. What a clear-cut victory! The subtle trap of the enemy has been uncovered.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, may our “No” be “No” even when it seems to be right to say “Yes”.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, open the eyes of our heart to see the timing of temptation, and let our “No” be “No” even when it seems to be right to say  ”Yes”. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 7:1-13

 

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THE SUBTLETY OF TEMPTATION

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The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”           Genesis 14:21 NIV

 

Here is the subtle temptation which suddenly came upon Abram. He was met by the king of Sodom, who had somehow escaped capture and was in the city when news came of the triumphant return of Abram with the spoils of war. On the surface, the king of Sodom’s offer seems a perfectly justifiable reward. Abram had fought his great battle, not, of course, on behalf of the King of Sodom, but for the sake of Lot and his family. Nevertheless, the effect of his victory was of great benefit to the whole of Sodom. For this reason. the king was there to meet him. The king simply asked for the return of the residents of the city; the goods and riches he gratefully offered to Abram. The wealth of Sodom was all to be Abram’s! Now notice the subtlety of this temptation. It appeared to be so right and proper! Abram could well have said. “This is certainly only what I deserve, and after all, it is the custom to do this. Everyone does it! There are no strings attached. I can take the wealth and go my way back to my tent and altar and never go near Sodom again.” Who of us, standing in Abram’s shoes, would not have thought like this? It is in the apparent freedom of the gift that the peril lay. To a man of Abram’s character, it is impossible to accept this kind of a gift without feeling an obligation to the giver. The gift was a threat to the independence of the man who took orders only from the Lord.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, may we see the subtlety of temptation in what seems right.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, through the gift of discernment, may we see the subtlety of temptation in what seems to be right and accepted ways of this world. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 6:15-23

 

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THE VALLEY

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“After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).”             Genesis 14:17 NIV

 

Abram is now on his way back to Sodom with all the goods of the city and much of the population, including Lot and his family. It is a time of victory for Abram, and therefore a time of peculiar peril. In our spiritual life, the enemy loves best to strike when we are relaxed and off guard after some spiritual victory or period of great usefulness. His approach then is never open or frontal, but subtle and insidious, taking full advantage of our relaxed defences. Abram is suddenly confronted with a subtle temptation on his way back to Sodom. We shall observe the sensible attitude he displays concerning others who are involved in this incident. But our attention is directed to the place where the king of Sodom met Abram on his way back from the battlefield. It was a valley right outside the little village of Salem. In later Israelite history, Salem became transformed into Jerusalem, the capital of all Israel. The valley outside the city, even then known as the “King’s Valley,” was none other than the Valley of the Kidron, the little brook that ran down along the eastern side of Jerusalem, separating the mount of Olives from the city. It was into this valley that our Lord went with his disciples on the night he was betrayed, crossing over to go up the slopes of the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane’s Garden. In this strategic and historic spot, the king of Sodom met Abram!

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, open our eyes to the subtlety of the enemy after victory in our lives.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, make us aware that there will be a valley moment in our lives, after we have experienced a victory, taking us from the mountain top to the valley. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 6:1-14

 

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IN COMPASSION

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“He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.”       Genesis 14:16 NIV

 

With courageous faith comes compassion and unselfishness. Abram rescued Lot, but this was not all. In compassion he rescued and brought back, all the men, the women, and the children. All the goods and possessions. Abram could have kept everything for himself, but unselfishly, he returned everything to the people. These were the inhabitants of Sodom! Yet Abram freed them and returned their goods. Why? Because Abram knew that the Lord has always had compassion and acted unselfishly toward humanity. Let us be reminded that the Lord had been compassionate toward Abram after his sin in Egypt, and He had fully forgiven and restored Abram. Abram was showing compassion and unselfishness toward the people of Sodom, demonstrating the very compassion and unselfishness of the Lord Himself. We have been called by Jesus to act with compassion and unselfishness. Why? The reason is clear. The Lord has made it possible for people, no matter what they have done, to be freed and fully restored through our Lord Jesus Christ in the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Let us be reminded of the words of Proverbs 24:11-12 (NIV), “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay everyone according to what they have done?”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, fill our courageous faith with Your compassion and mercy.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, as we reach out to the enslaved with courageous faith, fill us through Your Holy Spirit with Your compassion and mercy. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 5:12-21

 

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STRATEGIZE

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“During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.”        Genesis 14:15 NIV

 

Abram was wise in seeking to rescue Lot. He wisely chose only loyal and trained persons to help him. He took only those who were born in his own household and were trained to fight. They numbered only 318 men. Abram wisely planned his strategy. He divided his men into several groups and instructed them to attack from several vantage points. This would make the enemy think a large force was swarming down upon them. He launched a surprise attack at night. The enemy was caught completely off guard. They were unable to tell who was attacking them, and for safety’s sake they had to flee assuming that a large army was attacking them. Abram participated himself. He did not stay behind while others sought to rescue Lot. Abram himself led the rescue attempt. He pursued the enemy, went after total victory. He did not stop the pursuit until the enemy was completely defeated and scattered, and all the enslaved were freed. All our attempts to rescue people from sin and Satan must be planned, wisely planned! We must choose fellow believers to help us. We must plan our strategy through prayer, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough for others to go; we must go ourselves, each one of us. We must pursue through the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit’s leading to see that those who are enslaved are set free. Remembering that the battle belongs to the Lord.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Holy Spirit, in Your wisdom show us how to set the captives free.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, as we see those who are enslaved, show us how, through the power of prayer and Your Holy Spirit’s leading, to see them set free. Remembering that the battle belongs to You. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Romans 5:1-11

 

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